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' (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. W. JOHNS, Jr. FIRE ISOLATING APPARATUS.

No. 445,372. Patehted 13611.27, 1891.

INVENTUH BY A M ATTORNEY ms mums PETERS cu, PHOTO LXTHU., wAsumnwu, n.c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2:. H. W. JOHNS, Jr.

I FIRE ISOLATING APPARATUS. No. 445,372. Patented Jan. 2.7, 1891.

ans TE mow a ZUNITED STATES PATENT tries;

HENRY W. JOHNS, JR, OF NEiV YORK, N. Y.

FIRE-ISOLATING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 445,372, dated January27, 1891.

Application filed September 12, 1890. Serial No. 364,747. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY JOHNS, J r., a citizen of the United States,and a resident of New York, in the county of New York. and State of NewYork, hZLX G invented certain n ew and useful Fire-Isolating Apparatus,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in means for confining andretarding incipient fires; and it consists in the arrangement andconstruction of curtains or screens, preferably fire-proof, incombination with devices for supporting them, whereby the apartment orloft may be automatically or manually, as desired, divided into portionsof restricted area, in which area the fire will be, by the dropping ofthe curtains or screens.

In the drawings the same reference-letters indicate the same parts inall figures.

Figure 1 illustrates a plan view of the ceiling-of a loft or room inawarehouse, showing the screens rolled up and suspended near theceiling. Fig. 2 illustrates a sectional elevation of a portion of thatwhich is shown in Fig. 1, taken on the line a: x of that figure, one ofthe screens having dropped. Fig. 3

' illustrates a plan of a ceiling, showing another construction of thescreen-supporting devices. Fig. 4. illustrates a side view of one of thescreen-supporting clutches, showing in dotted lines the clutch open.Fig. 5 illustrates an edge view of that which is shown in Fig. 4. Fig.(3 illustrates a side view of the pulleysupporting frame used in theform of apparatus shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 7 illustrates a bottom View ofthat which is shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 illustrates an alternativeconstruction of the pulley-supporting frame adapted to either manual orautomatic operation and shown in dotted lines as released. Fig. 9illustrates an edge View, and Fig. 10 a side or flat view, of one formin which the fusible metal may be used in the cord or wire whichcontrols the screen-supporting clutches.

A A are the walls of the warehouse.

B B are the floor-timbers.

G O are the screens, preferably made of as- I bestus, wirecloth, orother non-inflammable material.

.0 C are brackets or journals for the roll ers upon which the screensare wound. The screens may instead be tacked to the ceiling at theirupper edge and rolled up on arod D, which descends with them.

E E are brackets attached to the ceiling of the room adjacent to thescreens and on opposite sides thereof. There may be two of them only forthe support of the screen-cradles, in which event they maybe placedabout midway of the screen,as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, or there may befour or more spaced along the screen, as desired. These bracketscomprise a fixed jaw G and a pivoted jaw ill, which is adapted ,to open,as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4:, which form the clutch forsupporting the screen-cradles.

I is a strap or cradle, which may be made of canvas, leather, metal, orother suitable material. It has enlargements J at its ends. They may bemade in any preferred manneras, for instance, by folding over thematerial of which the cradle is made, or, preferably, by attaching tothe ends of the cradle a cylindrical piece of wood or other material.These enlarged ends will be firmly held within the jaws of the clutch. I

K K are wires or cords which connect the ends of two of the movablejaws, and at such place or places in them as preferred I interpose apiece of easily-fusible metal J as shown in Figs'tland l0, alloyed so asto fuse at such temperature as desired.

The operation of the apparatus as thus far explained is as follows: Thescreens are normally rolled up against the ceiling and are theresuspended by the cradles, which are held by the clutches and theconnecting cords or wires, as described. The goods stored in thewarehouse are arranged in separated bodies or masses, with space betweenthem down through which the screens may drop, and also there is arrangeda hallway or alley L, preferably running lengthwise of the building. Thescreens 0 shut in the storagespace on the side next this hallway. \Vhenfire occurs in any part of the floor, the heat rises to the ceiling andfuses the easily-fusible metal. The cords or wires K thereupon part andthe pivoted jaws of the clutches E are released. They at once swingontheir pivots and the cradles are released, allowing the screens to drop.In this way the pendent screens, together with the wall of the building,the ceiling and the floor, form an inclosed space in which the fire isconfined, thus preventing its spreading, and retarding it by cutting offdrafts and by partially smothering it. Thus the fire is in agreatmeasure controlled during the first ten or fifteen minutes, which inalmost every instance will be sufiicient to enable firemen tosuccessfully cope with it.

In Figs. 3, 6, 7, and S I show a modified construction of the apparatus.Itis adapted to use in large rooms or lofts of such size that a fire ofconsiderable magnitude might occur in some remote part of it, and yetthe heat might not be sutlicient to fuse the metal atthe central part,where the clutch-holding cord or wire and the fusible metal are situatedunder the former plan. Under this form of my invention the cord or wireafter coming from the pivoted jaw of one of the clutches passes around alittle pulley M, thence right and left, zigzagging across the ceiling,passing around little pulleys N N N &c., until at the other end itpasses over another pulley 0, similar to the pulley M,

and thence to the other pivoted jaw of the opposite clutch. Thesepulleys are all of them journaled in frames, as shown in Figs. (3 and 7,comprising a bracket-like piece of metal P, which is screwed to theceiling, and

a bent piece Q, which is soldered to the piece P by easily-fusiblemetal. The pulley is e11- tirely in the piece Q and comes away with it.It will thus be seen that should fire occur in any part of the room oneat least of the pulley-supports will be approximately over it, and beingacted on by the heat the pulley and the part Q will become detached fromthe bracket P, and the cord or wire will then become slackened and theclutch released, resulting in the falling of the screen, as before, evenif for any reason the fusible metal at J &c.,shouldnotoperate. PP aresprings which I interpose in the cord or wire to allow for contractionand expansion.

In Fig. 8 I show an improved method of attaching the pulley-supportingpart Q to the bracket Pz'. e., there is a stud R made on the part Q,which engages with a recess S, made in the bracket P, and there is apiece of easily-fusible metal T, which is soldered at one end to thebracket and at the other end to the rearward1y-projecting end of thepart Q. This is so arranged that the heated air will have free accessall about it, that it may become quickly acted upon by the heat, and themoment it fuses the hold of the parts upon each other is broken and thestud R leaves the recess S and the parts separate, as before. In thisfigure also I show a construction by which the screens may be dropped byhand, if desired, when there is not sufficient heat to fuse the metal-i.c., the bracket P is made in two parts pivoted together at U, and thereis a spring-controlled latch V, which engages the other end of thebracket and normally holds it up against the ceiling, and it is providedwith a cord or wire W, which extends struction shown and described,since it will be obvious that many modifications may be made therein andstill the gist of my invention be employed. For example, the cords orwires need not be restricted to the ceiling. On the contrary, sometimesI propose to carry them down the walls of the building to or near to thefloor, passing them over or around suitably-located pulleys or theirequivalents, practically as above described. Also, I wish it to beunderstood that I prefer that the area of the isolated compartmentsshould not be very greatsay not to exceed from five to eight hundredsquare feet floor-space. Also, as is well understood, aneasily-explosive material which explodes at a slight heat'may be used ina glass or other device set in the line of cord or wire instead of theeasilyfusible solder. This construction I show at the right in Fig. 3.dis a globular-shaped glass device having eyes I) b or their equivalentat each end, with which the wire 70 is connected. It contains thematerial easily and forcibly expansible under slight heat, and whichwill burst the globular part and thus break the continuity of the wireand release the curtain.

I claim-- 1. The combination, with the wall, ceiling, and floor of abuilding, of gravity-actin g rolled screens normally held at or near theceiling by holding devices which embody in their construction materialwhich under the action of heat without flame destroys or breaks theholding device, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the wall, ceiling, and floor of a building, ofgravity-actin g rolled screens normally held at or near the ceiling byclutches which are held closed by controllingdevices which embody intheir construction material which under the action of heat without flamedestroys or breaks the said holding devices, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with the Wall, ceiling, and 'fioor of a building, ofgravity-acting screens arranged to leave a hallway across the floor andnormally held at or near the ceiling by devices automatically releasedby the action of heat, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the wall, ceiling, and floor of abnilding, of arolled screen normally held at or near the ceiling by a clutch which isheld closed by a cord, wire, or the like which extends from the clutchto and fro across the ceiling, composed partly of easily-fusiblematerial or with an explosive device, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of a rolled screen fast ened at one edge at or nearthe ceiling, a clutch which holds the screen suspended, and acontrolling device for the clutch, embodying in its constructionmaterial which under the action of heat without flame destroys or breaksthe clutch-holding device, said device extending across the ceiling indifferent directions and passing around pulleys, where its course isdeflected, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a screen, a clutch which holds the screensuspended, and a cord or wire which holds the clutch closed and whichpasses across the ceiling and around pulleys held to their supports byeasily fusible or explosive material, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of a screen, a clutch which holds the screensuspended, a cord or wire which holds the clutch closed, a hinged pulleyaround which the cord passes, a latch which holds the support for thepulley against the pull of the cord, and means whereby the latch may bewithdrawn, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination of a screen, a clutch which holds the screensuspended, a cord or wire which holds the clutch closed and which passesacross the ceiling and around pulleys which are held to their support byeasily fusible or explosive material, and a spring interposed in thecord or wire for counteracting expansion and contraction, substantiallyas set forth.

9. The combination herein described of a series of screens suspendedfrom the ceiling and arranged at angles to each other, so that when theydrop they will divide the underlying floor-space into inclosed smallerareas, the said screens being maintained near the ceiling by devicesautomatically released by the action of heat without flame, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 28th day of August, A. D. 1890.

HENRY V. JOHNS, JR.

\Vituesses:

PHILLIPS ABBOTT, FREDERICK SMITH.

